I have a long history with corporate housing – a furnished and serviced apartment. At one point, I had to house all of my past employer’s out of town business travelers which were sometimes hundreds of people at a time. I utilized corporate housing more than hotel and saved the company I worked for a lot of money. After leaving my old job I fell back in to corporate housing and this time became the corporate housing provider at N Housing.
I’ve managed a lot of apartments both as the client and the vendor and I have seen way too many furnished apartments but I’ve actually never stayed in one. I got my chance when my Mom came to visit me in Austin, TX. I didn’t have an extra room for her and luckily one of N Housing apartments opened up for that time frame so we stayed there. Normally corporate housing is only available with minimum 30 day lease term so ideally corporate housing is geared for the long term business traveler.
Fully Furnished, Equipped, and Serviced Residence
As I walked in, I was welcomed by a professionally cleaned and fully furnished and equipped apartment. We had the N Premium Furniture Package with leather sofa set. (Get ready for lots of photos!)
The living room was furnished with a sofa set, side table, table lamp, coffee table, TV stand, and a 32″ LCD TV with standard cable.
There was a round glass top dining table with leather dining chairs.
The master bedroom was furnished with a queen sized bed, dresser with mirror, night stand, table lamp, and a desk.
The guest bedroom was furnished with a queen sized bed, chest, night stand, and table lamp.
The bathroom was stocked with necessities to hold us over for couple of days (toiletry kit, toilet paper) and there were plenty of fresh towels and extra linen.
The kitchen was spacious and ready to prepare meals at home.
A rice cooker is included with the Asian Package.
Overall Guest Review
I felt like I was on a mini vacation. The apartment was clean and well furnished. Upon check in, I had everything that I needed to hold me over until I went grocery shopping: toiletry kit, toilet paper, laundry detergent, dish soap/sponge, paper towel, trash bags, coffee. These items were provided to settle me in on my check in day and aren’t meant to last long. I made a trip to the grocery store shorty after to stock on my favorite items and necessities for the duration of my stay.
There was plenty of open parking and a private garage to park my car. I felt safe in the gated community. The 70+ channels of cable television was a treat to have for me because I don’t have cable at home. The password protected wireless internet was pretty fast (20 Mbps download speed) and I was able to do some work. The full size washer and dryer made it easy to do my laundry in the convenience of a private residence. No hauling dirty clothes to the public laundry facility and hunting down coins.
We stocked the kitchen with groceries and made dinner. To avoid buying many ingredients, we bought some pre-made food from Mom’s Taste.
We made basil pesto pasta and side of salad. Yum!
There was plenty of space for me and Mom… all 1103 sqft of them. A two bedroom, two bathroom suite with housekeeping cost us about $100 per night. Corporate housing is a serviced residence so if we ever experienced a maintenance or service problem, I have a person to call or fill out an online form and the issue will be taken care of for me. No dealing with the apartment or the cable company myself.
I almost prefer staying in corporate housing when I have out of town guests. No insane cleaning, putting things away, and trying to accommodate the house to incorporate guests. It was very convenient to just go somewhere nice where everything was customizable to fit my needs. Corporate housing can accommodate pets, baby cribs, office, or even an extra bed in the room.
Whenever there is an apartment available for less than 30 day lease term, we posit it on airbnb.com and you can book directly from there. If you need corporate housing for 30 days or more, request a quote here.
How was your corporate housing experience?
- MJ
A Guest Perspective Living in Furnished Serviced Apartment for Business Travel
